Act Two: Howard's Office Quotes
English Lit: AQA A Level Death of a Salesman, topic 11.2.12
Howard's Office - Quotations About Capitalism
The scene in Howard's office is a comment on the cold, uncaring nature of capitalism and the divisions it creates between men. Here are a few key quotations from the scene:
Optimism
- “I’m gonna knock Howard for a loop, kid”.
- Willy arrives to Howard's office full of optimism - he has said this to Linda a few lines earlier.
- But Willy is quickly put off his stride by Howard’s demonstration of the wire recorder and his impatience with Willy’s attempted interventions (“Sh, for God’s sake”).
Divisions
- “Sure, they’re only a hundred and a half”.
- Willy is forced to discuss the machine and, keen to please Howard, tells him that he’ll get one for himself. Howard’s response helps to demonstrate the divide between the two men: the audience knows that Willy does not have that kind of money to spend.
Lack of sentimentality
- “You didn’t crack up again, did you?”
- Demonstrates Howard's lack of care or concern for his employee.
Cold capitalism
- “Business is business”.
- Howard has no time for sentimentality and rejects Willy’s mentions of his father or of the old days where, according to Willy, “there was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it”.
"Desperately, angrily"
- Miller’s stage directions reveal how distressed Willy becomes.
- Howard is unmoved, with Miller describing him as “barely interested”.
Howard's Office - Quotations About Values
Willy’s speech about his father and Dave Singleman is the vessel for one of Miller’s key ‘messages’ in the play: businesses treat their employees as disposable rather than worthy human beings.
Delusions
- “‘Cause what could be more satisfying…?”
- Willy’s speech about his father and Dave Singleman is the longest in the play.
- It reveals the delusion at the heart of Willy’s dreams: that the life of a travelling salesman is glamorous and rewarding.
Willy and Howard's values
- Willy - thinks Dave Singleman embodies values such as “friendship” and “personality”.
- Howard - motivated by other values (he “can’t take blood from a stone”).
Demanding respect
- “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit!”
- Here, Willy protests against how businesses treat their employees as disposable and asserts his worth as a human being who deserves respect and dignity.
Test yourself on Act Two: Howard's Office Quotes
How much does Howard tell Willy wire recorders cost?
What stage directions does Miller use to show Willy's distress in Howard's office?
What is Willy talking about?
“‘Cause what could be more satisfying…?”Which character states “can’t take blood from a stone”?
What is Willy demanding when he says this to Howard?
“You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit!”